Sheave construction



'July 25, 1933. R G. E TQURNEAU 1,919,472

.SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Deo. 23, 1952 INVENTOR Patented July 25, 1933 narran sraras snnavn CONSTRUCTION Application led December 23, 1932. Serial No. 648,634.

This invention relates to multiple pulley sheaves, and particularly to ones of the heavyduty type. ln sheaves of this character it is necessaryto place spacers or separators be- 5 tween the different pulleys of the block to keep the adjacent runs of the cable separated and to prevent them :trom possibly climbing out of the pulley grooves. These separators ordinarily extend to the central spindle of l0 the pulleys, thus separating the individual pulleys, and are bolted to the block or made integral therewith as by casting. 'll-his arrangement however in large multi-pulley sheaves makes the same excessively wide and l5 necessitates the use of a large spindle or pin to avoid possible bending, since the pin is unsupported between its ends. rThis width cannot be reduced by cutting down on the width of the pulleys, since while the rims and il@ grooves ot the pulleys may be reduced somewhat without harm, the hub llength or width must be held to certain dimensions to avoid weakness and excessive wear on the, pin..

rThe principal objects of my invention are 5 to provide a multi-pulley sheave so constructed that the pulleys are kept in very close transversev alinement with each other so that a compact arrangement is had and the length of the spindle reduced; and to provide a rigid en block with the necessary separators formed as a unit therewith without the use of bolts and the like, while at the same time the individual pulleys may be installed in or removed` from the block without disturbing any part of the supporting block or the separators. Also the separators are arranged so as to be more efficient than those atpresent used in that it is now impossible for the cable no mat-l ter how small to climb the pulley grooves and possibly wedge between the pulley and an adjacent separator.

A further object of the invention is to'produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly eiiective' for the purpose for which it isv designed.

@These objects ll accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

50 ln the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views;

F ig. l is a sectional elevation of my iinproved sheave construction;

F ig. 2 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters ot reference on the drawing, the block of the sheave comprises side walls l C5 connected by opposed transversely extending Walls 2 rigidly connected thereto by Welding. The pulleys 3, of which four are shown in the present case, are of course all the same size in all dimensions and tit closely between U5 the walls l. rlhe hubs 4 actually abut and rub'against each other and against the side walls, While the bodies and rim portions of the pulleys have a slight clearance between each other, as shown ,in Fig. 3.1 The hubs l@ engage a common spindle 5 supported at its ends in bosses 6 secured on the walls l. The pulleys at their grooved rims areas close as itis practical for their operation without contact, so that the grooves 7 therein may d `have all possible width.- rllhe necessary separators cannot thereforegbe placed between the pulleys.,v llnstead the separator plates 8 which extend between and are welded to the walls 2 of the block are formed with cir- 53 cular openings 9 slightly greater in size than the diameter of the pulleys at the periphery, all loutone of said plates being disposed in overlapping relation to the adjacent edges n of adjacent pulleys as shown in Fig. 3. This s* arrangement gives a very eiiicient separating action, as will be evident, since it makes it impossible for a' cable'to climb out of the pulley groove and possibly become wedged between' adjacent pulleys. 9C lf all the separators were thus disposed however it would of course be impossible to place or remove thepulleys in the block without removing 'one of the side walls or one oi' Hf the separators. To avoid having to do this "J a half 8a of one of the separators adjacent one of the walls l is shifted transversely of the block and away from' the adjacent wall l to a distance slightly greater than the Width j of the hub l 'of any pulley (all said hubs being the same width) the port-ion of the separator thus shifted being that adjacent one open end of the block. In this manner each pulley in turn, before the spindle is mounted, may be inserted through the relatively wide space provided between the separator segment 8a and the adjacent wall l as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. In installing the pulleys they are thus inserted through said wide opening until they aline with the openings 9 of the separators and they are then shifted transversely to position through said openings. All the pulleys of the sheave no matter how many there may be can thus be installed or removed with equal facility and without disturbing the block or separators, which can thus be made as a permanently connected rigid unit. The shifted separator while reducing the available width of the groove of the second pulley, does not do so to any detrimental extent, as the separator is relatively thin and the pulley groove 7 considerably wider than is acually necessary for the reception of the ca le.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device,still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims. Having thus described my invention what .I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A multiple-pulley sheave comprising a block, open at one end, a plurality of ulleys turnably mounted in the block, and ca le separating plates mounted in the block and eX- tending about the pulleys in overlapping relation to the adjacent edges of adjacent pulleys; one half of lone of the separators adjacent one side of the block being offset transversely and away from said side to a distance not less than the width of a pulley; said half being the one nearest the open end of the block.

2. A multiple pulley sheave comprising a block open at one end and having slde plates inseparable from each other, pulleys mounted in the block in concentric relationship and whose hubs abut against each other, and separator plates non-removably mounted in the block and oriiced to receive the pulleys therethrough and disposed in transverse planes between and overlapping adjacent pulleys; the spacing between a certain adjacent pair of plates at the open end of the block being suflicient to receive a pulley therethrough whereby said pulleys may be placed in position in or removed from the block one by one after the block and separa tor plates are assembled and without disturbing thesame.

ROBERT G. LE TOURNEAU, 

